Late Night Help
by verilyfranklin
Summary: Stress over the looming final Quidditch match and NEWTs is starting to affect Oliver Wood and Percy Weasley. Can the roommates help each other?


Oliver Wood and Percy Weasley were sitting at their respective desks, deep in concentration. Their other three dorm mates had long since gone to bed, but the two seventh years couldn't rest. For Oliver, the final quidditch game of the year loomed ahead of him. Gryffindor had had the best team since Harry Potter had joined as seeker, but unforeseen circumstances the last two years had knocked them out of the running for the Quidditch Cup. This was his last year at Hogwarts; his last chance to secure the Cup.

He had spent the last couple of weeks planning. He made and remade training schedules, devised strategies, and tried to think up every possible thing that could go wrong and a way to work around it. And yet, as the game drew near, he felt less and less prepared.

Their last game was against Slytherin and Oliver knew for certain that they would cheat if given half a chance. He was attempting to work out an alternative game plan that took into account the possible incapacitation of one or more of their chasers, but was having trouble deciding what course of action he should have Fred and George take. He was about to express his frustration when his dorm mate beat him to the punch.

"Argh," Percy grunted, slamming his quill onto his desk and laying his head down in dejection, "There just isn't enough time."

"Not to worry, Perce, there's still a week left before the big game," Oliver called softly, only half joking.

Percy lifted his head and glared at Oliver from across the room, but Oliver knew not to take it too personally. Percy's lips were quirking up slightly on the right side, belying his ire.

"Bugger off, Wood," Percy shot back, "You know your quidditch game isn't what I'm talking about." He then grabbed one of the discarded wads of parchment that littered his desk and chucked it at Oliver. Laughing, Oliver caught the ball as it soared closer to him.

"Not bad, not bad at all. You would have made a decent chaser," Oliver quipped, "I guess quidditch runs in the family too."

Shaking his head, Percy ignored Oliver, rubbing his eyes tiredly and turning back to the parchment and book he had been using to study. Oliver smiled and pushed himself away from his desk. All joking aside, this was something he could deal with. Despite the fact that his pep talks often missed the mark (he could be a little overexcited about quidditch which led to long winded speeches) he had been made captain for a reason. Not only was he dedicated and passionate about quidditch, he was also dedicated to his teammates and this quality often bled into his interactions with his housemates too. Dealing with stress was one aspect of quidditch that came in handy for everyday school life as well.

Walking over to Percy, Oliver leaned down and in to Percy's personal space, placing his right hand on the back of the chair Percy was sitting in and the other on the desk. He quickly scanned over the materials on the desk, Potions he noticed, and shook his head bemusedly, "Potions, Perce, really? You have excellent marks."

"I know I have good marks, but there is always the chance that the examiners will have us make a potion that I'm not comfortable with for the practicum. I've been trying to get as much hands-on experience as I can. Now all I can do is go over the theory. I think I have most of the more finicky potions down well enough to be fine on the exam, but I'm still having some trouble with the Wiggenweld Potion. Every time I've made it, it's turned more green than yellow when I add the lionfish spines and then heat it. I've tried everything I can think of, but nothing fixes it."

Oliver listened carefully as Percy explained his problem. Then he looked over the notes Percy had taken with his different attempts at the potion; he had tried adding them whole, halved, crushed, and sliced. Cocking his head to the side, Oliver tried to recall something he had overheard one of the Slytherins say about the lionfish spines in class. Apparently, Professor Snape had given the seventh year snakes advice about the potion when so many of them had had trouble with it. What was it that the girl had said? That particular class had fallen on the morning of their game against Ravenclaw, so Oliver had been more than a little preoccupied. That game had been one of the most difficult games he had been in so far. They had gotten off to a quick start, but the Ravenclaws were a team that you had to outlast too. That was it!

"The potion is time-delayed," he grinned triumphantly, "When you add the five lionfish spines, you crush two and a half of them and slice the other two and a half. The crushed spines start the reaction immediately, but the sliced ones dissolve slower, continuing the reaction while you heat the potion."

"That's…that's," Percy stuttered, "That's brilliant."

Oliver turned to look at Percy who was staring at him slack-jawed. "I overheard one of the Slytherins saying it during class," he shrugged.

"Still," Percy beamed, "You didn't have to tell me. Thank you! I thought I'd never make any progress with it."

Oliver could only stare back in wonder at the look Percy was giving him. He had never seen such a happy smile on the other boy's face. Come to think of it, he had never heard Percy thank anyone quite so enthusiastically before either. Glad to have helped his roommate, even with something as simple as remembering a conversation, Oliver flashed Percy a luminous smile.

Feeling the warmth behind the smile, Percy leaned in to Oliver's personal space and impulsively crashed his lips into the other boy's mouth. Misjudging the angle of Oliver's face, Percy bumped their noses painfully together before tilting his head and fitting their lips together better. It wasn't until he heard a strangled sound coming from the back of the throat, he wasn't sure if he had made it or Oliver had, that he pulled back from Oliver, face flushed and heart beat racing.

After Percy pulled away from him, Oliver stared down at him, his eyes glazed, before he slowly came back to his senses. Percy's face was still glowing red and he looked a little like a skittish animal, but Oliver decided that he didn't care. He didn't quite know where this would lead but he knew that he liked the warmth that had spread through his body at the kiss, he liked the way Percy looked at him, and he especially liked how Percy kissed him. Coming to this conclusion, Oliver smiled fondly at Percy before placing a second firm, quick peck on the other boy, squeezing his shoulder affectionately before returning to his desk while Percy turned back to his schoolwork.


End file.
